GREENWICH, Conn., June 2, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Blyth, Inc. (NYSE:BTH), a leading designer and marketer of home fragrance and home decor products, today announced that it has entered into a new bank agreement that provides the Company with an unsecured revolving credit facility for a five-year term, through June 2, 2010. The $150 million facility, with a $50 million expansion feature, replaces an existing $200 million credit facility that was scheduled to mature in August 2005. The banking syndication was led by JPMorgan Chase Bank.
Management plans to use the credit facility for general corporate purposes, including seasonal working capital needs and funding for strategic acquisitions. The Company's operations are increasingly seasonal following approximately one acquisition each year over the past decade.
Blyth, Inc. can be found on the Internet at www.blyth.com
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. Actual results could differ materially due to various factors, including the current slowing of the United States economy as a whole and the continuing weakness of the retail environment, the effects of our restructuring, the risk that we will be unable to maintain the Company's historic growth rate, the Company's ability to respond appropriately to changes in product demand, the risks (including foreign currency fluctuations, economic and political instability, transportation delays, difficulty in maintaining quality control, trade and foreign tax laws and others) associated with international sales and foreign products, risks associated with our ability to recruit new independent sales consultants, our dependence on key management personnel, risks associated with the sourcing of raw materials for our products, competition in terms of price and new product introductions, and other factors described in this press release, in the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2002 and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 31, 2002.